Holo Writing

Authors Jacob & H.P. Holo

short stories

Dancing with Destruction is up for pre-order!

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It’s pre-order time again, this time a sci-fi anthology! 😄

Dancing with Destruction comes from Editor Jason Cordova at Baen Books, and has a super fun origin story.

Basically, cover art was commissioned for another of Baen‘s books … but the resulting illustration ended up not fitting the vibe the publisher was looking for.

However, it was still a kick ass piece of art.

So, Jason presented this art to a handful of authors – ourselves included – and said, “Hey, want to write a short story for an anthology based on this cover?” 😀

Jacob saw this art and immediately said “HECK YES! I already have the perfect Sol Blazers story in mind.” But then he looked at his packed writing schedule. 😬 Then he looked to me and said, “What if we make this a Jacob Holo + Edie Skye collaboration?” 😏

Thus we get “The Joy of the Chase,” an adventure in Jacob’s Sol Blazers universe wherein our underpaid heroes take a simple missing persons job on a deserted jungle habitat … and find it not so deserted at all. In fact, it’s a whole lot hotter than expected. 😈

Also, if you weren’t aware of my love for over-the-top 80s action movies, you will be after this short. Yes, I watched Predator for research. Yes, Jacob had to cut plenty of 80s action movie references, and YES, Jason cut more. 🤣

(This is not the version where Nathan + Aiko chase an acid-bleeding monster through simulated vents made of interwoven jungle branches, but I assure you, it’s still cool.)

Dancing with Destruction releases on July 1, 2025, but you can pre-order it in trade paperback now!

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Also, if you have no idea what Sol Blazers is, go check it out! It’s basically adventure space opera for people who are mad that Firefly never got a second season, with catgirls, sassy androids, and maybe a lil’ mild cosmic horror. 🤣

Freelancers of Neptune Book Cover

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Moggie Noir is out today!

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Hey, y’all! H.P. here! 😄 If you like cats, noir, and short stories, you’re in for a treat, because Raconteur Press just dropped Moggie Noir (complete with a new story from yours truly)!

Moggie Noir

Anthology Edited by Rita Beeman
Published by Raconteur Press

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The question remains whether you should tuck into this volume in a comfy chair for a bit of adventure. Well, if you like cats, there’s more than a little of something you love in the pages or pixels herein because, instead of a bland all-two-legger cast, these stories feature felines as central or pivotal characters. If you are a fan of noir fiction, you’ll enjoy how these authors have explored this genre and maybe stretched the bounds of what you find familiar. Some are set in the 1930s, some are present day, and some are who-knows-when.

After all, who better than a cat might convey the contradictions of a ruthless killer enrobed in the most exquisite package of sumptuous fur with glittering emerald eyes? No one, see? Cats are the ultimate expression of the noir aesthetic, and we hope you will agree, but fasten your seatbelts: it’s going to be a bumpy read.

READ MOGGIE NOIR HERE

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This particular anthology marks a REALLY COOL POINT in my author career. 😀

Last year, Raconteur Press invited me to be an anchor author for a project themed around noir and cats.

Had I ever written in the noir genre? NOPE. Had I even read a noir novel? NOPE. The closest I’d come was watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit? It’s my favorite movie of all time, granted … but it’s not exactly a standard noir. 

Sure, I’d written about cats, but noir’s a very distinct genre with very distinct tropes.

And yet RacPress had such faith in my writing, they were confident I’d produce an anchor-worthy story in a genre I’d never touched. 😮

I have since touched the genre A LOT, and much like Jacob with police procedurals and the File novels … found a new genre I love to write in. 😄

All this to say, I’m excited for you to meet the two newest tenants of my head in “Logan Decker, P.I. and the Bodies Agatha Definitely Didn’t Put There.” 😄 One’s a gruff, jaded PI; the other’s the ghost of a cat who spent all nine lives. Together they’ll solve crimes (or do them, Agatha’s cool with either). 😸

I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you have just as much fun reading it!

READ MOGGIE NOIR HERE